HEBREW WORD STUDY – KEEP ME – SHAMERENI שמרני Shin Mem Resh Nun Yod

Psalms 16:1-2 “Michtam of David. Keep me, O God; for I have taken refuge in Thee. I have said unto the Lord: ‘Thou art my Lord; I have no good but in Thee.’”

The word michtam is a transliteration from the Hebrew and literally means from gold or from the hidden. Many commentators simply interpret this to mean Poem of Gold and ignore the hidden idea. Indeed Poem of Gold is good. Gold is a symbol of the glory of God. Still, I have that nagging feeling that there is more. You see, the root word is ketam which in its Semitic origin means hidden. The word is spelled with a Kap which shows a filling of God’s thoughts, a Taw representing truth and a final Mem teaching us of hidden knowledge. I would personally translate Michtam of David as a spiritual secret of David. More so, David is sharing his heart with you in this poem. Actually, that is what a poet does when he writes his verse, he is sharing his heart with you. David, a man whose heart is joined with the heart of God (a man after God’s own heart), has a lot to share when he shares his heart – don’t you think?

So what is this secret from the heart of David which is joined with God’s heart? He is able to command God to keep him. The word keep is shamereni from the root word shemar which means to watch closely, observe, never lose sight of. It is in an imperative (command) form. He is not asking God, he is commanding, albeit it is in a Qal form which makes it a mild command. It would be more like, “You promised me, now keep your promise.” The promise is for God to watch David’s every move to keep a watch over his heart. To make him aware when he is slipping and falling into sin. David does not trust his heart, he knows it can be very deceitful at times. The enemy is so subtle and David, who himself committed adultery, knows that all too well and he just does not trust himself or the motives of his heart so he is calling on God to watch his every move.

I think most of us can relate. We want something so bad, yet we know we need God to ok it. We start looking for little confirmations and signs from God that it is His will. Every little coincidence is a confirmation. Many women have married men and men married women because they were driven by their passions and did not really listen to God. I have heard many testimonies from men and women on how they felt sure God was confirming them to marry someone who was not a believer because He called them to lead them to the Lord. The person never came to the Lord but did come to them with divorce papers a few years later. David was wise enough to ask God to watch his heart. He probably convinced himself it was God’s will to have an affair only to suffer greatly by not first asking God to watch his heart.

So we may ask, “By what right does he make such a demand upon the Master of the Universe?” It would seem he claims this right when he takes refuge (chasithi) in Him. You see the refuge or chasithi that he is seeking here is to escape from the enemy who seeks his soul, the enemy who will cause him to sin, this enemy who can put such deceit into his heart.

Sometimes my understanding, my heart can tell me that what I think I am doing is truly right, it is truly of God only to find out down the road that I missed it completely. It turns out I just wanted it so bad that I convinced myself it was God’s will. Let’s face it, sometimes an opportunity comes along, perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity and you know, there are some things you just don’t need to pray about as it sounds so right, sounds noble, how could it not be of God? But then how do we know it is not a trick of the enemy to distract us from the perfect will of God. We need, like David to find chasithi a refuge in God so He shamereni (watches over me) or watches over my heart.

We don’t know the complete story of David and Bathsheba. The Bible only tells us of what was in David’s heart, that he lusted after her. But on the surface, perhaps David had convinced himself that he was only ministering to a lonely, frightened woman whose husband was off to war. Since her husband was such a loyal servant, it was only fitting that he should comfort the man’s wife. Of course, Scripture tells us what was really going on in David’s heart. It does seem odd that only when Nathan confronted him with the true nature of his heart did it really dawn on him how deceived he had actually been.

I don’t know if that is what was on David’s mind as he shared this verse, but it is clear, David knew he had to find a refuge (chasiti) in God for he could not trust his own understandings or his heart.

He says in verse 2: “I have said unto Jehovah: ‘Thou are my Lord (adoni) master, guide, instructor, I have no good in Thee.’” That last phrase is difficult to translate. There is no negative word found in this verse in the Hebrew. It is literally “My good is indeed your alah supreme source or conduit. Of course, we will not translate it that way because that implies David’s goodness is a source for God. There is no good but God.

I still think we can translate this without the negative, however. When we consider that the word tov (good) means that which is in perfect harmony with God, then we can translate this as David saying: “When I find my refuge in God He will examine me in complete detail so that I am not falling into sin, then I am indeed in harmony with God and He can then use me as a conduit.”

David’s spiritual secret is not just finding a refuge in God but when he does find that refuge he uses it as an opportunity to let God completely examine his heart to make sure that whatever He does is in harmony with God and thus God is able to use him as a conduit.